Turning Point
by Mistic
Summary: Serena had a bad day and heads for the one place she knows that she can find comfort... Sequel to "Don't Save it All."


Title: Turning Point Written by: Mistic Rating: G  
  
Twin ponytails dragged on the concrete behind a beautiful, blue eyed blonde. Shoulders slumped with weariness, the girl trudge down the sidewalk. Tears glistened in her glassy eyes and in her hand lay a crumpled piece of paper. Her hand convulsed around it as if to remind herself that it was real. One thought kept running around her head, "what's Mom going to think?"  
Thunder rumbled in the distance, making the girl shiver and take in her surroundings. Suddenly, she realized that her feet had taken her to the one place where she could find comfort and safety from the impending storm: Darien's apartment. A small smile graced her lips at the thought of her friend. He was a strange mix of seriousness and underlying mischief. He guarded his heart closely, but he longed for someone to love as much as she did. And despite a rocky beginning, they had become fast, close friends over the past year.  
"Maybe..." the girl sighed, hesitating as she lifted her finger to the buzzer marked "Shields", "he'll let me stay for a while."  
After what seemed like eons, a strong, deep voice came over the intercom, making the girl's heart skip a beat, "Who is it?"  
"Darien," the girl hesitated. Maybe this was a bad idea.  
"Serena?" the voice asked, clearly surprised.  
"Yeah, can I come up?"  
"It's unlocked. We'll talk when you get up here." Darien returned curtly, clearly worried.  
Serena cringed inwardly as she reached for the door handle and let herself into the apartment building. She rarely came by Darien's apartment and there was usually something wrong when she did. The first time they had run into each other, and she had scraped her hand, which he tended with care. Ever since then, she ran to him when the world got to be too much and no one else could understand her problems, typically emotional in nature. The difference today was that she did not really know what was wrong; she had, had bad test grades before, but they had never made her turn to Darien for support. She usually turned to her friends, but she did not want to see their disappointed faces again. Everyone had tried so hard to help her with this test, but nothing ever went right for her. After spending most of the night battling a yoma, Serena had slept through most of the test, and she could not bear to admit that to her friends. The answers she had written had been hasty and not thought out. She knew the answers, but how could she explain that to her teacher, her mother, or her friends. They would not understand, but Darien would. He always did. Serena hesitated outside the door of Darien's apartment, biting her lip in worry. "Maybe, this wasn't such a good idea," she mumbled as the door swung open. "What wasn't a good idea?" Serena's breath caught in her throat at the sound of his voice. Sparkling sapphire eyes gazed down into hers with a look of concern and confusion, and in that moment, Serena knew what it was to be speechless. Her hand itched to move the ebony locks that fell before his eyes, breaking the spell cast by his transfixing gaze. "N-nothing..." Serena chocked out, her hand convulsing around her crumpled test in order to quell her instincts. One eyebrow rose in response but Darien did not press the issue. Instead, he stepped back from the doorway and motioned for Serena to enter. "Why don't you come in?" Swallowing hard, Serena squeaked out an appropriate response and glided past Darien and into the small apartment. Her mind raced as she scanned the comfortable living room before her. 'What's wrong with me? This is Darien for heaven's sake! I can't be attracted to him; can I?' "Why don't we sit on the couch?" Darien suggested with an amused chuckle as Serena nearly jumped ten feet in the air and turned scarlet. Mortified by her thoughts, Serena turned to the couch where Darien pointed and sunk gratefully into the soft black leather. She nearly jumped when Darien decided to sit down next to her, their legs touching slightly, but she was able to quell that reaction in time. "What's this?" Darien asked as he gently stroked the hand clutching the failed test. Grateful for the excuse, Serena unfurled her hand, revealing the small wad of paper, and handed it to him. Patiently, she waited as he uncrumpled the paper and surveyed its contents. Surely a grade that bad could excuse her strange behavior. "Ouch. What happened?" Dejectedly, Serena sighed and settled her gaze on her folded hands, "I stayed up all night studying and fell asleep during the test." It was only half the truth, but he did not need to know about her secret identity. He probably would not have believed the real reason anyway. "Did you know the answers?" "Yes," Serena whispered, laying her head atop her hands, "I actually did."  
"Anything I can do?" Darien asked, gently lifting Serena's head to gaze into her liquid blue eyes.  
"Just don't yell at me. I don't think I can handle that..."  
"Oh, Serena," Darien sighed, crushing the younger girl in a powerful embrace, "I won't ever do that again. Don't you realize..."  
"Realize what?" Serena asked, resting her head on Darien's strong chest. She never wanted this to end and that scared her to the core.  
"That I love you."  
Stunned, Serena pressed her hands against Darien's chest in order to break free of his embrace enough to meet his gaze. There she found the one emotion that she had always longed to see: love, and in that instant, Serena finally understood. She loved him, too.  
"Serena?"  
"I-I love you, too..."  
"You don't know how long I have waited to hear you say that," Darien whispered, sweeping Serena into a crushing embrace and burying his head in her hair. "I don't know when I fell in love with you, but I did, and I don't ever want to fight with you again."  
"Never?" Serena asked, pulling back enough to meet his questioning gaze.  
"Never."  
"Oh, well, I'm not sure if that will work," Serena giggled, her eyes twinkling, "Fighting with you is half the fun..."  
"Serena..."  
"What? Nothing we ever fight about is serious," Serena stated, batting her eyes in, what she hoped, was an innocent way.  
"True, but I don't want there to be any tension between us."  
"Ah, but there is tension," Serena murmured, her gaze locking with his.  
"Oh, and what would that be?"  
Licking her lips, Serena closed her eyes and kissed him square on the mouth. After a few seconds, she pulled back and whispered, "That kind of tension."  
"Oh, I see," Darien whispered with a chuckle, "that kind of tension is okay, but I think it will take something a bit more drastic to diffuse it."  
"Oh, and what would that be?" Serena asked, truly curious and not quite comprehending what he meant.  
"This," Darien whispered, brushing his lips across hers in a tender kiss that lasted a very long time...

* * *

Don't know if that made any sense; I'm a bit out of practice. College has not left much time for writing. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the little story. It was meant to be a sequel to "Don't Save It All," but I'm not sure if you can pick up any of the links, mainly b/c there are so few. 


End file.
